This invention relates to ar-cyclic sulfonium areneoxides and polymers thereof.
The propensity of many sulfonium salts to polymerize upon exposure to heat to yield a polyester and a by-product sulfide has been recognized by Hatch in Canadian Pat. No. 708,230, Lloyd in U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,660 and Kangas in U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,737. More recently in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,636,052, 3,660,431, 3,723,386 and 3,749,737, it has been recognized that various hydroxyphenyl cyclic sulfonium salts may be converted to phenoxide cyclic sulfonium zwitterions that polymerize readily upon exposure to heat without yielding sulfide by-products.
Heretofore, the polymerization of phenoxide cyclic sulfonium zwitterions by exposure to radiative energy has not been disclosed.